What can I eat? High blood sugar

[Ratatouille76]

I'm really really struggling. My husband is a vegetarian which makes it even harder and we are surrounded by chocolate which I'm struggling with! I've cut down on carbs but not enough and just feel hungry all the time. What should I be snacking on when I'm hungry. Feel limited and confused and pretty fed up. Got a fasting blood test this week. Whole thing is actually massively stressing me out.

You can have a couple of squares of good quality dark chocolate. Otherwise nuts are your friend or maybe a full fat yoghurt.

Meat, cheese and eggs shouldn't change blood glucose levels.

Fruit and dairy will make a rise. Can you fill up on sugar free fizzy drinks.?

Sorry you are going through this! Maybe join BIWI's low carb boot camp threads or there's another ongoing one for people doing the Michael Moseley 800 calorie per day low carb diet.

low carb boot camp link www.mumsnet.com/Talk/low_carb_bootcamp/3573667-The-next-Low-Carb-Bootcamp-starts-on-13-May

800 calorie a day blood sugar diet link www.mumsnet.com/Talk/fasting_diet/3532374-blood-sugar-diet-and-fast800-thread-14

Thank you. I've been having lots of nuts and eggs. Just so bored of eating the same things. Is there any yoghurt other than plain or Greek I can have, dont like them.

Cheese. Salami. There are yogs with sweeteners instead of sugar which could work. Popcorn isn’t too bad in moderation.

I've been having loads of cheese. Probably why I haven't lost any weight! I thought sweeteners were bad?

Sorry you have this to contend with. I had high blood sugars while pregnant so got quite used to trying to keep them low.
There are a few cereals you can try. Portions are small but they’re tasty. One is called Lizzi’s sugar free granola and another was a paleo mix. I can’t remember the name but you could google. There is a yogurt called skyr which is comes in different flavours. There are cereal bars called nature valley protein that I would have for snacks. I’ll come back if I think of anything else. Good luck

Have a look at keto friendly recipes. Marks daily Apple is a good place to start

Thank you. Dont think I've done very well over the past few months. Will have to see how my results are this week.

Just need a list of snacks that arent going to give me really high cholesterol.

Jumping in as needed to do the same, though just because sugar makes me feel shit, though sadly it's after I've eaten it - I seem to forget before!

I know I've been successful in the past, but at the moment I can't for the life of me think what I used to snack on...

Obviously things like veg crudités with hummus. Celery and peanut butter and /or cream cheese. Olives. Different kinds of cheese, like feta, mozzarella etc. Things like antipasto, peppers and tomatoes in olive oil. Those sushimi crab stick things.

www.diabetes.org.uk/guide-to-diabetes/enjoy-food/eating-with-diabetes/healthy-swaps/healthy-swaps-snacks

Op my Df has high blood sugar and has been borderline diabetic....He is now out of the woods..

This is what he does,

NO bread, potatoes, white rice, pasta,cake, biscuits etc.At all No fruit juice or fizzy drinks. Tea and coffee without sugar is fine.

Breakfast, porridge with berries, strawberries, blueberries..
Or nitrate free bacon and eggs.

lunch, soups/scrambled eggs, small grilled steak and salad/hummus and ryvita with salad/cold lean meats/grilled meats with vegetables.

Dinner, fish/meat with huge variety of vegetables but v limited root vegetables ie, carrot and parsnip. Curries,casseroles..

Snacks are nuts, ryvita with avocado and tomato, rice cakes, very dark chocolate, berries, homade oat flapjacks with stevia instead of sugar.

The Louise Parker method is fab for quick recipes that are suitable for a sugar free diet.

The tough bit is how to eat when out, no fast food! but most cafes will do an english breakfast, so just avoid the toast and baked beans..

It really shows how much of our food has added sugar, almost all ready cooked meats even. I often cook a large joint of meat like beef or lean lamband take a section to my father every few days, to have cold, to prevent him buying pre packaged meats.

My DF is 84 and in really good health now he has got to grips with this.

Thank you I've cut out biscuits, sweets, cake, chocolate but still having potatoes pasta and rice, it's very hard not too! I've mostly cut out bread.

I still have sweetener in tea, is that ok?

You can swap rice for things like pearl barley. It's a better option.

Also, I was amazed how much I enjoyed having things like chilli and bolognese over a big bowl of raw spinach leaves.

That is a good idea, I like spinach. I have been having brown rice. Husband being veggie is hard cos I end up eating a lot of veggie stuff and I need meat to fill me up.

Op go for sweet potato and replace bread with rye bread or ryvitas, bread is your enemy as it turns to sugar so fast in the bloodstream....
Same with potatoes, pasta and rice...you could get a spiraliser and use spiralised vegetables instead...

Perhaps spend an hour finding 5/10 new recipes each week and order the ingredients twice weekly, so that you always have the right things in the fridge. Once you find favourites it will get easier.

Thank you. It's just hard to accommodate for everyone. Kids like their carbs and with the lack of meat too. I didn't know I could have rye bread that sounds nice.

If I only had to sort myself out it would be a lot easier.

The Michael Mosley blood sugar diet. Properly researched etc. Amazon.

Go to the lowcarbing topic here on MN, and look up the the bootcamp that BIWI runs. A new one is starting on the 13th.

It will sort out your blood sugars, and you will not feel hungry at all. Lots of support, lots of guidance, lots of science and information.

I have T2 diabetes and lowcarbing works extremely well for me.

Also you should be eating meat. It doesn’t really matter whether or not your husband wants to. Your health and well-being matters too. But you can successfully do BIWI’s bootcamp as a veggie.

Is there any yoghurt other than plain or Greek I can have, dont like them.
Try Arla Skyr. It is like a thick yoghurt but without the slight tang some plain yoghurts have. It's also very low fat and a good source of protein.

Add your own fruit to plain yoghurt (try also The Collective Straight Up yoghurt - it's full fat) tastes delicious with fresh fruit or stirred through porridge - which I make with water first)

Also what about pulses? Chickpeas, butter beans, lentils, split peas plus Dahl or houmous.

What about porridge (NOT the instant type) with added nuts, seeds and blueberries and/or strawberries.

If you need a sweetener try a little stevia/xylitol mix. You need very little.

If you like chocolate try dark (start with 70% maybe and work up to 80/85% cocoa solids. Montezuma (Waitrose) is 73% and lovely chocolate. Waitrose also have their own "single estate" dark chocolates. One square (max 2) are usually enough savoured SLOWLY! 😁 Peru is 75%. Haiti is 85%.

Drink more water (apparently the hunger/thirst signals are often confused).

Soup is your friend (check labels of any bought, or just make your own plus add lean protein.

Eat more fish both white fish and oily fish (it's only your DH who is veggie?). Prawns are a lean source of protein.

Regarding cheese: look for reduced fat, mature cheese and check your portion. Waitrose strength 6 sliced mature, 30% reduced fat cheddar tastes good and I think ASDA and Sainsbury's also have 50% reduced fat cheeses. ASDA and Waitrose did well on a recent programme I watched on TV. Peanut butter on ryvita or whole grain bread (don't pile it on though).

Reduce all white bread, rice, pasta from your diet. If you do have these ensure you have a good source of lean protein to reduce your glycemic load. Do you like sweet potatoes? I tend to have them more than white potatoes (boil until Just cooked or microwave until a knife meets just a slight resistance). Sweet potatoes baked in the oven until totally cooked/soft have a high GI (though they taste lovely)! I find they go watery if boiled sometimes though.

Avoid mashed white potatoes - very little fibre, which you need to maintain healthy blood sugar. If you do eat white potatoes then cook them lightly in their skins and eat the skin.

Hope this helps a bit. Good luck!! 🌹